


I'll see you later

by Christian_the_bluefrog



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cuddling, First Kiss, Fluff, Heaven, Human Castiel, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, On the Run, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 19:37:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16125314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Christian_the_bluefrog/pseuds/Christian_the_bluefrog
Summary: Cas comes to the Winchesters for help, because Naomi is back in charge of Heaven and wants Castiel to pay for his crimes. A very specific one in particular, which he has to fess up to Dean.





	I'll see you later

Sam's packing his duffel as he waits for Dean to get out of the shower. They had just finished a two week long arachne hunt in Arkansas, and both of them were itching to get home.

"Dean, save some water for the fish! Let's go!" Sam wrapped on the door. The water turned off and Sam sat on the foot of the bed clicking off the TV. 

A wave of static crackled through the air making the hair on Sam's arms stand.

"Dean?" His brother opened the door.

"Hold your horses, I'm-" The sound of angel blades crashing cut him off as three angels landed in the room. Dean was trapped with the angels between him and his weapons, but Sam had pulled out the angel blade that was given to him. 

The first angel Dean saw was Cas, the other two he didn't recognize. Sam skewered one from behind and Cas took advantage of the moment when the other angel watched his partner burn out. With a thud there were now two angel's on the motel room floor. 

Dean looked up at Cas about to yell, because what the hell is going on, but he stopped as he noticed how injured his bestfriend was. 

"Dude, what was that?" Sam was the first to speak. 

"The first of many attacks to come." Castiel used the foot of the bed to support himself as his legs started to give out. Dean caught himself moving forward to help, but decided against it at the last second.

"Mind clarifying?" He raised his eyebrows in question. 

"Naomi isn't dead. She's in charge again and her first order of business is to make me pay for my crimes against Heaven." The room stood still as the gravity of the situation sunk in. 

Sam turned to leave and left the door open, Cas and Dean didn't move until they saw Sam return with cans of spray paint. 

"Sigils first; explanation later." He tossed a can at Dean and another to Cas. They didn't stop until they were almost out of wall space. 

The tension in the room was so thick you could have cut it with a butter knife. Dean wanted answers, and he wanted them now. Cas could tell that he couldn't stall any longer and let out a sigh as he sat on the side of the bed. 

"I'm on Heaven's most wanted list, but I'm not just on it; I'm at the top." He used air quotes as he spoke. 

"Okay, so how do we deal with that?" Sam asked.

"What kind of question is that? We fight, and keep Cas safe!" Dean's trying to keep himself from yelling. 

"Not what I meant. We can't fight all of Heaven, Dean. We need a plan to figure out how to get the angels to back off." Cas stood and turned to face Dean. 

"I can't ask you to do that. You have other things to worry about, more important then babysitting me." He kept his head down as he spoke. 

"Cas you're family, I'm not letting you out of my sight until I know your safe." Dean couldn't understand why Cas didn't think of himself as important. He was one of the most important people in his life.

"I'm with Dean on this. You aren't going anywhere until we figure this mess out. Why don't you start with all the rules you broke." Sam sat down at the table. This could take a while. 

"I rebelled against Heaven. I've killed countless brothers and sisters. I tried to become God." He stated. Dean watched his face as he spoke. He wasn't telling them something.

"Your hiding something." Dean crossed his arms and locked his eyes on Cas.

"Do you want me to go over the whole list?" Castiel tried and failed to sound confident. 

"No, I want you to tell us the one you don't want to tell us." 

"There isn't-" 

"You're tapping your finger." Dean's was loosing patience. Cas' life was on the line, and here he was keeping secrets. 

"I don't-" Dean cut him off again.

"When you're nervous, you tap your left index finger." Sam and Cas both looked towards Dean curious. "So cut the crap and tell us why they're after you."

Cas looked back and forth between the brothers. He could loose Dean if he told him he loved him, but if he didn't tell him he might loose him anyway. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. This was not the ideal scenario, especially because he couldn't ask Sam to leave. He was part of this now, like it or not. 

"I broke Heaven's number one rule." He sighed turning his eyes to his shoes. Both brothers waited for him to continue, but when he didn't Dean spoke up.

"Cas, whatever it is we'll deal with it. We've seen you do some pretty messed up shit, and we're still here." Cas winced as Dean reminded him of his past choices that he regretted. 

"This wasn't something I didn't do on purpose, Dean." He still kept his eyes on the floor. 

"That should make it more understandable then. It's just a mistake." Dean's tone was cheerful, and Cas' heart broke just a little bit more. His love for Dean was a mistake. 

"Cas, I hate to rush you like this, but we don't know when the next group of angels will strike." Sam leaned forward slightly. 

"I'm sorry, Sam. This is something I wasn't ready to talk about, I'm not sure I ever would have been ready." He took a deep breath. "I fell in love." The quiet words escaped with a sigh, and Dean wasn't sure he heard him correctly. Had Cas really just say he fell in love? With who?

"Whoever she is, she might be in danger. We need to get to her before they do." Sam said. Cas let out a tiny chuckle and ran his hands down his face. 

"He's not in danger." Dean's eyes went wide with jealousy, hoping that Cas would give them the guy's name. Both brothers stayed silent. 

"It's you, Dean. Now do you understand why I didn't want to tell you? If it's alright, I'd like to skip the 'I don't feel that way about you' speech. Please just go." 

"No." Dean had never put so much emotion into any word. 

"I don't need your pity, Dean." Dean stood up and took two steps right into Cas' personal space.

"This is not pity. This is-" 

"They're coming." Cas cut him off as the sigils on the wall started to sizzle and melt. He jumped up nearly knocking Dean off his feet. Sam grabbed a spray can; Dean snatched their bags in one hand and Cas' wrist in the other. 

They threw the door open and ran to the Impala as two more angels appeared in their room. Dean started her up as the angels charged towards Baby. Dean floored it in reverse crushing the female one and knocking the guy a few feet back. 

 

~<3~

 

Sam had spray painted the roof and the back windows with sigils that prevented angels from entering the car. Dean hadn't said a word about it, or anything at all. They drove in silence for a few hours on the back roads until Dean let out a loud yawn.

"We need find a place to stop for the night." Sam looked towards his brother. 

"What we need is to get Cas back to the bunker, where there's more protection then these stupid sigils." Dean growled and Cas sunk down in his seat. They hadn't had time or the privacy for Dean to actually talk, and if his voice was anything to go by, Cas wouldn't like how the talk was going to go. 

"If we crash because you feel asleep, it'll take even longer to get there. We had almost no sleep this last week." 

"Fine." Dean turned down the next road that lead into a town. They pulled into the first motel they saw. 

"Stay here." Dean said, not particularly to anyone. He jumped out of the car and Sam and Cas watched him talk to the lady behind the counter. When he came back he handed Sam a key and Cas the other. No one questioned it. 

No one had spoken on the way to their room; or rooms as Cas discovered that Dean had booked two.

"Good night, Dean." Cas turned towards the brothers, but confusion covered his face as Dean followed him inside. He gave him a look and Cas realized that Dean would probably want to get the chick flick moment out of the way before going back to his and Sam's room.

Once Dean closed the door behind him they locked eyes, both quiet. Cas was halfway across the room and Dean stood directly in front of the door. There was not enough space between them and yet too much at the same time. 

"I'm not good with these kinda things, Cas. I need you to be patient with me, let me think things over so I don't say something and it comes out wrong and I mess this- whatever this is up." 

That was a good start, Dean told himself as he pulled out a chair from the table. Cas sat on one of the two beds, still across the room from Dean. 

"I can wait as long as you need, Dean." He smiled, but Dean knew it wasn't real. It was a mask the Cas put on to make him feel comfortable. 

"I'm not ready to say, ya know, those three words; but I need you to know that I do feel something for you. A big something. More then friends." Dean's words were coming out choppy but at least he hadn't screwed up so far. 

 

"There was a moment in Purgatory when it clicked. When I first saw you by that stream, I knew you were more then a friend, more then a brother to me. I hugged you, and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, I felt at peace." He stopped to look up at Cas who was watching him intensely. 

"It was really slow, looking back at it. It was the way you looked at me. You made me laugh, and gave me hope; even if I'd already made up my mind that things were beyond saving. It was you that I have feelings for. Does that make since or am I just running my mouth?" Cas had just a hint of a smile. If you weren't looking closely you wouldn't even see it. 

"Me; not my vessel." Dean nodded.

"Exactly, but things changed after that too. It started with your eyes. They're like crystal springs that I could drown in. They're more beautiful then any girl's I've met. So that was normal enough for me. Next, I found myself staring at your hair. It's always ruffled, like you just rolled out of bed after some mindblowing sex." He stopped to let the blush fade from his cheeks. Cas was still watching, listening like Dean was the only thing in the world worth listening to.

"After that, I couldn't take my eyes off your lips. Lips are lips, on guys and girls; no big deal. I think that's why I didn't freak out when I realized that I'm attracted to you. I lo- like you, as you, and I begin to associate your vessel with you. What I'm trying to say, is that I'm not as freaked out as I thought I would be, because your a guy- in a male vessel- whatever. And that's all the talking about my feelings I can handle tonight." 

"Thank you, Dean. For being so open and sharing that with me." There was a genuine smile on his face, and Dean noticed how his eyes lit up as he looked at him.

"I understand if you'd like to go to your room and sleep." His smile faded as he spoke. Dean crossed the room and pulled the covers back on the bed opposite of him.

"I'm sleeping here- unless you don't want me to?" He hesitated drawing the last words out.

"No, I want you to stay." Cas didn't care how rushed or needy he sounded. He needed Dean to say.

"Good." Dean took a deep breath and grabbed a can of paint. He had been so distracted with their talk that he had forgotten to put the sigils up. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned.

"I'll finish those if you want to get ready for bed." Dean nodded and grabbed his sleepwear from his duffel. When he came back out, dressed in a t-shirt and blue plad pajama pants, Cas had almost finished up. 

He watched the movement of Cas' arm as he painted the last line. Cas isn't the most coordinated or graceful guy, but Dean watched the swift practiced motion and now that everything was out in the open, he let himself stare. He'd always enjoyed just watching his angel- but he didn't really know if Cas was his angel, just yet.

"Dean?" Cas had his head tilted in that adorable way he does. "What were you thinking about?" 

"You." Fuck it, he could say that now if he wanted to. 

"Oh." Cas blinked, clearly not expecting that answer.

"Yeah." Dean could feel the heat rush through his face and he suddenly felt like a schoolgirl talking to her crush. He tried to shake it off. He closed the distance between them until their faces were inches apart. Cas froze, if he made a move Dean wasn't ready for he could ruin everything.

"I- can I-" Dean stopped and took a step back. He had just poured his soul out to Cas. Shouldn't things be easier now?

"We can share a bed, if you want." He turned quickly, scolding himself. He is Dean Winchester; lady killer. He could have almost any girl in any room- but that was the problem wasn't it. 

Cas isn't just any girl- person- angel. He felt a hand on his shoulder, Cas could clearly see him getting flustered. 

"Dean, if you're not ready to do that, just say something. I'm not going anywhere." Dean didn't know if he should argue back; because with their current situation, it was a very big possibility that he might be.

Dean grabbed him by the wrist, forgoing his instinct to argue. This was something he never thought he'd be able to have, and he'd be damned of he was going to wast more time arguing. 

Cas let himself be dragged in the the bed. He only hesitated to remove a few layers of clothing, until he was down to his undershirt and boxers. Dean pulled him down and curled up around him. He was going to be the big spoon, at least tonight. 

Tonight he needed to hold Cas. He needed to feel the warmth of his body, and snuggle against him. He just needed to know he wasn't going to leave.

 

~<3~

 

Dean woke when he felt Cas pull forcefully from his arms. The sigils were burned from the wall and Cas was in a fighting stance.

"Is that anyway to greet your big bro?" A familiar voice sounded through the air. Sam threw the door to their adjoining rooms open, and upon spotting the archangel, almost dropped his weapon.

"Haya, Sammy!" Gabriel's voice was less cheerful then normal, but his signature smile was still plastered on his face. 

"You died." The words ghosted from Sam's lips. 

"My death was greatly over exaggerated. See the thing is, I don't like attachments. It was time to pull the ripcord, kiddo. But what kinda brother would I be if I didn't at least try to helpl Cassie here?" 

Cas slowly walked over and enveloped Gabriel in a tight hug.

"Thank you, GEH PAID DA." Castiel said before being pushed off. 

"How about thanking me once I've actually done something. Now everyone up and at 'em!" 

Once every was dressed and packed Gabriel suggested he fly them to the bunker; and to everyone's surprise, Dean didn't say anything about leaving Baby. Simply stating he'd come back for her.

Once they were back home, Sam set about upping their angel protection. 

"I'm going upstairs to talk to Naomi." Gabriel gave his baby brother a half grin. 

 

~<3~

 

Once Gabriel was gone, Dean took Cas by the hand and pulled him down the hall to his room. He climbed onto his bed, back leaning against the headboard and pulled Cas between his legs, resting his back to Dean's chest.

Neither of them spoke, but there wasn't really a need to. Cas nuzzled his head back in the crook of Dean's neck, and Dean rubbed small circles on the back of Cas' hands. There were no expectations, no tension, just love silently flowing around them. 

It was an hour before Gabriel popped back into the war room, sending Sam into attack mode momentarily. 

"I have good news and bad news." He sighed in a defeated manner. Sam bit his lip and sucked in a large breath before turning to go get their brothers. 

He knocked on the frame of the open door and they knew their time was up. They may never get to hold each other like this again. Cas started to pull away, and just for a second Dean squeezed tight. 

They found Sam and Gabriel sitting in the war room across from each other. Dean pulled out Cas' chair and sat next to him. 

"Naomi was dead set on killing you." He looked at Cas, and held back on the joke that could be made there. 

"Once I told her that you were under my protection, one of her advisers whispered something to change her mind; and they came to a decision." He paused taking a moment, the look on all of their faces were getting to him more then he thought they would.

He had a soft spot for Sam, and Cas is his brother, but even the look on Dean's face was almost enough to bring him to tears.

"They want you to make a choice. Give up your grace and status as an angel; basically fall completely, with a few other details they refused to tell me. Or join them in heaven. You'll never be allowed back on Earth." 

"I chose the first." Castiel stood up, his voice booming. 

"Not that easy bro. You have to face Naomi in Heaven." It was Dean's turn to stand up.

"No way." He pulled Cas in by the waist protectively. 

"I'm sorry Dean-o. It's the best I could do." Cas turned to Dean and rested their foreheads together. Sam waved at Gabriel to follow him, so they could have a moment alone. 

"You can't leave." Dean murmured. "Not again, Cas please." His voice cracked and he was trying to keep his breath even. 

"Dean, I'm going to come back." He promised, pulling him in as close as he could. "This isn't good bye, Dean. It's more li like, I'll see you later." 

"It doesn't feel like that." He tried and failed miserably to make that come out as some kinda chuckle. He can't let Cas leave seeing him in tears. He had to be strong. He pulled his head back just enough to hover his lips over Cas' gently brushing, yet not exactly touching. 

"I love you." Dean whispered against his lips. It wasn't quite a kiss, but it wasn't not. They heard footsteps and Dean pulled him into the tightest hug he could muster, before letting his angel pull away; he was his angel now. He had no doubt in that.

"Time to go." Gabriel gave them a halfhearted smile and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. 

"I'll see you later." 

 

~<3~

 

The next thing Cas saw was a white room that seemed endless. There's a white table, a rectangle, where Naomi and two other angels were seated. Cas looked at Gabriel who moved to sit in one of the chairs across the way. 

"Hello, Castiel." He tried not to flinch at the sound of his name coming from her. He nodded in acknowledgment. 

"No small talk, right to business then. I have here two contacts. You will read each and decide, or if you don't like either, there is always an angel blabe to the heart." Her lips turned up at the end, her voice floating in amusement. 

Cas took a deep breath to calm himself as he reached for the first contract. It described him living in heaven, essentially saying he would be little more then a servant. He took it between his hands and ripped it, literally to shreds. Gabriel tried to hold back a laugh, and ended up letting out what sounded like a high pitched cough.

Naomi's face hardened, but quickly returned to her disturbingly calm signature look. Cas picked up the second contract. He read through it throughly, key phrases stounding out in his head.

'Your wings will be ripped out by hand.'

'Your grace will be drained in the most painful way possible.'

'You will be cut off from the Heaven, and shunned by all angels.'

But the last one, on the very last line said.

'Dean Winchester will be punished for 24 hours, for his participation in your fall. He will be returned alive.' 

 

"No." He tossed the contract at Naomi. 

"You know the other option." She grinned at him smugly. Gabriel snatched up the contract and quickly skimmed it over. When he found what made Cas react as he did, his face turned stoic. 

"Are you willing to alter this?" Gabriel asked.

"I'll take his punishment." Cas stood up, placing his hands on the table forcefully. Naomi looked from him to Gabriel and back. 

"Agree to a week, 168 hours of torture, and I'll agree to those terms. The returned alive condition will still stand." She stood up hand out for Castiel to shake. He did, and vanished a second later. 

 

~<3~

 

Dean was on top of Gabriel, he could throw the hunter off any time he wanted too, but in this case he let Dean take it out on him. 

Sam pulled Dean off, only to have him collapse on the floor. Gabriel had told them every detail of the meeting. It was when he heard that Cas agreed to take his punishment that he charged at the archangel. 

"You son of a bitch!"

"If it's any consolation, Cas is granted to be alive when we get him back." Dean looked up with fire in his eyes. 

"Screw this!" Dean jumped up and marched to his room, slamming the door behind him.

 

~<3~

 

All Cas could see was red; blood. It flowed from somewhere on his head, and completely blinded him at the moment. His arms were screaming at him. He was held up by hooks that were driven through his wrists.

His back was on fire where his wings use to be. He had sobbed and cried out with his angelic voice as a team of angels ripped the bones from their socks. He felt every tendon tear individually. The sound of his muscles and flesh tearing away will forever haunt him. 

There was an unbearable spike of pain as someone repeatedly stabbed at the place his wings once were. They would let the angel blade sit for a moment to allow it to sting, before pulling it out to repeat the action. 

Sometimes they would work in teams. Someone would slice at his chest, while someone carved into the back of his neck. Or any other place they decided to mark up.

The worst of it was being filleted. They would pick a spot, the last being his inner thigh, and using an angle blade, they would peal the skin from the muscle. They would let that pain sink in as they worked on another spot, removing skin from there. Then there was the process of skinning the first layer of muscle off. Then they would heal him and start all over again.

After every torture they would wait, just enough time for the pain to reach its apex, before continuing. 

The last time he was healed was followed by the lightest torture he'd received all week. Both of his legs were broken, angels, seven or eight of them, placed slow cuts all along his body. Some were paper thin, some were gashes; but they weren't enough for him to bleed out. 

He didn't remember when they had taken his grace, but he was regaining his awareness under such light torture. 

There were flames licking at his side now, searing hot pain. He tried to swing away, but he'd forgotten about the hooks in his wrists.

Then, everything stopped at once. He looked up through his bloody vision to see Naomi smiling at him. 

"It's been so fun watching you suffer. I've even recorded it for when I have a bad day. It'll be my go-to to cheer me up." There was venom in her voice, but it was lost to Castiel who could hardly keep his eyes open. 

There were hands at his sides, and they roughly yanked him off the hooks and healed his wrists so he wouldn't bleed out. Though they did leave scars where the wounds were. 

"Goodbye, Castiel." He heard Naomi say before he passed out.

 

~<3~

 

There was a thud that reverberated through the entirety of the bunker. Gabriel was the first to enter the war room and find his brother spread eagle on his stomach; unconscious. He reached down as Dean ran into the room.

He pushed the archangel aside and pulled Cas into his lap.

"Cas! Cas! Heal him for fuck sake!" He turned to Gabriel, his voice breaking as he spoke. 

"You don't think I tried already dipshit! They put some kind of lock on him. My grace can't do anything!" He felt bad for yelling at Dean, but he was aloud to be upset too. Dean isn't the only one who loves Cas. 

Sam almost tripped as he ran to see what was going on. Gabriel ended up grabbing him by the arm to steady him. Sam looked down at his brother rocking Cas in his lap. Dean was sobbing hysterically, Sam had never seen Dean anywhere near this emotional before.

After a few minutes Sam suggested they move him to a bed. Dean agreed but when Gabriel tried to help him lift Cas, he practically growled. He scoped his angel- his Cas, into his arms bridal style and gently carried him to his room. Sam gave Gabriel a questioning look, but if Dean wanted Cas in his bed, no one would question him.

He gently laid Cas down, adjusting the pillow behind his head before he sat down in a chair next to the bed; and he planned to stay in that chair until Cas woke up.

 

~<3~

 

It was two weeks before Castiel opened his eyes. He had no idea what was going on, but when he saw Dean sleeping in a recliner by his side, he reached for his hand.

Dean startled awake and tears slid down his eyes as he jumped up. He kneeled on the floor, to be eye level with him. 

"Oh thank God, Cas!" Dean rested his head on the bed for a second as he tried to still his heaving chest. He grabbed him by the hand and placed feather light kisses all over it and up his arm, but when he reached the scar on his wrist Cas yanked away.

"I'm sorry." Cas winced. 

"None of that." He cooed, lifting his hand to play in Cas' hair. It was greasy, and covered in healing scabs; but he didn't care.

Cas took in his surroundings and it shocked him, the fear visible in his eyes. He was hooked up to an IV pole, there were casts on both of his legs, but he was in Dean's room.

"You were out for a while, and you're human now." Dean tried to get him to look at him, hoping it might lessen the distress on his face. 

"I'm human now." Cas repeated Dean's words. 

"We had Gabriel steal the medical supplies we didn't have." He slowly inched closer. "Why did you do it?"

"I always choose you Dean, I thought I'd make that clear." There was a familiar sternness in his voice, and Dean couldn't help but let the violent tears start up again.

Cas scooted over as close as he could.

"Stay still you'll pull out your IV." Dean sniffed. 

"Then you come here." Dean did as he was told. Cas closed the distance between their lips, and this time there was no doubt that this was a real kiss. It was tender and slow, with years of love flowing between them. Cas was the first to pull away, but he rested his forehead to Dean's. He smiled and the hunter couldn't imagine why. 

"Not that I don't love that look on you, but what's with the grin?"

"We'll never have to say, I'll see you later, ever again."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it. I'm thinking about making it a series, but for now it's a stand alone, one shot.
> 
> GEH PAID DA- Enochian for 'Care taker' 
> 
>  
> 
> I enjoy reading your comments, so please leave so feedback for me. :)


End file.
